Saturday, 24 May 2008

what is Iman?. Iman has six pillars, taught to us by the Prophet (saw).Belief in Allah;

Belief in the angels;

Belief in the revealed books;

Belief in the commissioned Messengers (peace be upon them).

Belief in the resurrection and the events of Qiyama.

Belief in the predestination by Allah of all things, both the (seemingly) good and the (seemingly) bad.Let me tell you a story and the story.Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported:One day Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) appeared before the public. Then a man came to him and asked: Prophet of Allah, what is Iman? Upon this he (the Holy Prophet) replied: That you affirm your faith in Allah, His angels, His Books, His meeting, His Messengers and that you affirm your faith in the Resurrection hereafter. He (again) asked: Messenger of Allah, what does Islam signify? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: Islam signifies that you worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him and you perform the prescribed Prayer and you pay the obligatory poor-due (Zakah) and you observe the Fast of Ramadan. He (the inquirer) again asked: Messenger of Allah, what does Al-Ihsan (Faithfulness) imply? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: That you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, and in case you fail to see Him, then observe that He is seeing you. He (the inquirer) again asked: Messenger of Allah, when would there be the Hour of (Doom)? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: The one who is asked about it is no better informed than the inquirer. I, however, will narrate some of its signs (and these are): When the female-slave will give birth to her master, when the naked, barefooted would become the chiefs of the people; these are some of the signs of (Doom). (Moreover) when the shepherds of the black (camels) would exalt themselves in buildings, this is one of the signs of (Doom). (Doom) is one of the five (happenings wrapped in the unseen) which no one knows but Allah. Then he (the Messenger of Allah) (may peace be upon him) recited (the verse): Verily, Allâh! With Him (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour, He sends down the rain, and knows that which is in the wombs No person knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no person knows in what land he will die Verily, Allâh is All­Knower, All­Aware (of things) He (the narrator, Abu Hurairah) said: Then the person turned back and went away. Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Bring that man back to me. They (the Companions of the Holy Prophet present there) went to bring him back, but they did not find him. Upon this Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) remarked: He was Gabriel. He came to teach people their religion.Belief in Allah Most High.Many people falsely interpret Iman to mean faith or belief in one’s heart. However, this is not the way the messenger Muhammad (SAW) and his companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) understood Iman to be. Allah (swt) says in the Qur’aan: “If they believe the way you believe (Sahabah), they will be guided. And if they go astray, they will be in complete contradiction…” (Quran Soorah Al-Baqarah, 2: 137)

This verse was revealed in relation to the Muslims that will come after the companions of Rasoolullah (SAW). Allah (swt) clearly explains that for any Muslim to be guided, he must believe in what the Sahabah (the companions of the messenger Muhammad (SAW)) believed in. Therefore the understanding of the Sahabah in matters relating to ‘Aqeedah (belief) and Fiqh is binding (obligatory) upon us to follow and adopt.

The Sahabah understood Iman to be belief in the heart, to testify by the tongue and to practice (the deen of Islaam) willingly. The evidence for this is the hadith reported in Ibn Maajah, narrated by Imaam ‘Ali (ra), that the messenger Muhammad (SAW) said: ‘Iman is conviction in the heart, testifying by the tongue and acting upon the pillars of the actions.’

The beliefs must be corrected first, then follows all of the other aspects of the religion……..

AqeedahAl-Aqeedah linguistically is derived from the term aqada. In Arabic, one states, “Aqada the rope” when the rope is tied firmly. And, “Aqada the sale” or “He settled the sale” when the person ratifies and contracts a sale or agreement.

And Allah says in the Quran, “And as for those whom your right hands have made a covenant (Ar., aqadat)” [Al-Nisa 33].And Allah also says, “But He will take you to task for the oaths which you swear in earnest (Ar., aqadtum)” [Al-Maida, 89] which means asserted and adhered to, as proven in the verse, “And break not oaths after the assertion of them” [An-Nahl, 91]. If one says, “Aqadtu such and such,” it means his heart is firm upon such and such.al-Aqeedah or al-itiqad-The firm creed that one’s heart is fixed upon without any wavering or doubt. It excludes any supposition, doubt or suspicion.. The matter of Aqeedah is of the “TOP” priority,Imam Abu Hanifa called this great subject al-Fiqh al-Akbar (”The Greater Understanding”) and the understanding of the religion. He called the science of law (Ar., shariah) the understanding of the science. Many scholars of Islam use the word tauheed for all matters that a person must believe in. This is because the most important of these matters is the basic tauheed that is contained in the phrase, “There is none worthy of worship except Allah.”The beliefs must be corrected first, then follows all of the other aspects of the religion….

And Imam Ash-Shafi` said, “That a servant meets Allaah with every sin except Shirk is better say than meeting Him upon any of the innovated belief

So Aqeeda =al-Fiqh-al-akbar ( “The Greater Understanding”) and the understanding of the religion. The firm creed that one’s heart is fixed upon without any wavering or doubt. (This has to come from understanding of the basic tauheed)”There is none worthy of worship except Allah.”

al-Aqeedah or al-itiqad-The firm creed that one’s heart is fixed upon without any wavering or doubt. It excludes any supposition, doubt or suspicion.

one’s heart is fixed upon without any wavering or doubt .Now you know what Aqeeda is!

The Messenger informed Mu’adh bin Jabal, when he was going to the land of Yemen, “You are going to a people from the People of the Book. Let the first thing that you call them to be the worship of Allah. If they acknowledge Allah, then inform them that Allah has obligated upon them five prayers during their days and nights.” [Al-Bukhari, Muslim]

Jundub Ibn Abdullah al-Bajaly said, “We learned Eemaan (faith) and then we learned the Quran and it increased our Eemaan .” Abdullah ibn Umar said, “We lived during an instant of time in which one of us would receive faith first before receiving the Quran and when the surahs were revealed we would learn what they permitted and what they prohibited and what they forbade and what they ordered and what should be the stance towards them. But I have seen many men from whom one is given the Quran before Eemaan and he reads it from the opening of the Book to its closing and he does not know what it orders and what it forbids and what should be his stance towards it. He is like someone who is just throwing out dates [i.e., he does not get any benefit from his recital].”

That is the manner in which the Prophet brought up his companions: Eemaan first and then the Quran. This is similar to what Imaam Abu Hanifah pointed out: Understanding in the religion first (i.e. Tawheed) and then understanding in the science (i.e. the sharee’ah).

The beliefs must be corrected first, then follows all of the other aspects of the religion.

Friday, 23 May 2008

Praise belongs to Allah alone; peace and blessing on the last Prophet, his family and his Companions.

The primary belief of Islam is: There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God. What is the meaning of this Shahadah, testimony? How it affects the other fundamentals of Islam: Salat (ritual prayer), Zakah (obligatory charity), Sawm (fasting) and Hajj (annual pilgrimage to Baitullah- Kaaba- the House of God). These five fundamentals are commonly known as Pillars of Islam. The Pillars comprise the main ritual activities including the fundamental Muslim faith. The Pillars, the symbol of Islam that includes fundamental Muslim faith, are not without spirit. These are not just what are essentially required to be member of the Muslim community- Ummah, but what it means to be a Muslim.

The single most significant factor in the performance of any Muslim ritual is the intention,(al-Aqeedah or al-itiqad) which must be uppermost in the believer’s mind before the ritual begins. The Pillars are some total of actions, which are not only verbal and bodily, but, above all, mental and moral, performed according to certain state of mind, certain conditions of conscious intention, of external and internal purity, presence of mind, modesty and obedience, humility and submissiveness of the heart, creating within the soul of the believers a real life of religious devotion and spirituality.

Leaving aside the principal Pillar: There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God, rest of the Pillars representing Salat, Zakah, Sawm and Hajj are all essentially group activities. The most important purpose of these Pillars is to assist the believers, through group actions, attain membership of the Muslim community, which is constructed through self-conscious testimony and performance of the fundamental religious rituals, is a borderless community, a community not bound by geographic, national, ethnic and racial consideration but united only by a single testimony: There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.

“The Mu’minoon are but a single Brotherhood.” (The Holy Qur’an, 49:10)

“The Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin the ma`roof (all of Islam), and forbid the munkar (all that is evil; kufr): they observe regular prayers, pay Zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger. On them will Allah pour His mercy: for Allah is Exalted in power, Wise.” (The Holy Qur’an, 9:71)

“All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood.”

As the teachings of Islam clearly show us that Brotherhood and unity in Islam are based solely on the `Aqeedah of Islam (which is the foundation of Muslim belief). The Mu’minoon are believers to one another and this belief has nothing to do with race or any other type of invalid reason to unite but is rather a bond based on an ideological belief in Islam.

The beliefs must be corrected first, then follows all of the other aspects of the religion.

Imaam Abu Hanifah pointed out: Understanding in the religion first (i.e. Tawheed) and then understanding in the science (i.e. the sharee’ah).

Imam Ash-Shafi`i said, “That a servant meets Allaah with every sin except Shirk is better say than meeting Him upon any of the innovated beliefs.”

al-Aqeedah or al-itiqad - The firm creed that one’s heart is fixed upon without any wavering or doubt. It excludes any supposition, doubt or suspicion.

Praise be to the Lord of the universe who gives the best reward to the God-fearing and the great loss to the transgressor. I bear witness that there is no God but Allah; He has no partner and possesses real sovereignty. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger; the seal of the prophets and the leader of the God-fearing. May Allah bless him, his family, his Companions, and those who follow them till the Day of Judgment.